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Limited Edition 2026 Black Vinyl Repress.
Up in Flames is Dan Snaith's second album, originally released under the Manitoba moniker on March 31, 2003 .
Made with the same modest home setup as its predecessor, it nonetheless sounds like a different artist entirely - a kaleidoscopic rush of sun-bright melodies, tumbling percussion, and psychedelic pop that traded the hushed intimacy of Start Breaking My Heart for something warmer, bigger, and more joyfully overstuffed, encompassing 1960s psychedelia, Madchaster swagger and shoegaze swoon.
Snaith was later forced to change his artist name after a well-documented lawsuit, and Up in Flames stands as the final album released under the Manitoba name - a high point to go out on. The record was met with widespread critical acclaim, and has since been recognized by Pitchfork as one of the standout albums of the 2000s. It remains, by most accounts, one of Snaith's finest and most beloved records.

Lex Walton (née Alex) is an American songwriter, actress, prose poet, and filmmaker whose work is unflinchingly confessional, and whose live performances are filled with ecstatic masochism and flailing. In addition to her catalog of a dozen or so mostly home-recorded albums, EPs, and singles, she has recorded collaborations with Devi McCallion (Black Dresses, Girls Rituals), Geese, and Ezra Furman, written the pop music manifesto The Sound Rocker's Prayer, and starred in Louise Weard's five-hour epic film Castration Movie Anthology II: The Best Of Both Worlds.


ULTIMATE LOVE FOREVER is Lex’s unwavering, iconoclastic Sub Pop debut. Some of the tracks already have fans and the music press heated up, so we’ll let the critics do the talking! PASTE: “Walton’s wiggly, anxious power pop wades through pages of dead links and forum threads to get to its incendiary hooks... anachronistic collage of Edwardian portrait artists, country greats, and noise rock heroes… a roadside altar… with its lo-fi hissing and tongue-twisting one-liners.” The Quietus: "For fans of early Jonathan Richman, NYC gutter punks Dollhouse, or staring at the fluorescent lights of the Walgreens ceiling on your third day withdrawing from psych meds, barely able to parse the words ‘Medicaid coverage has lapsed’ as a pharmacist misgenders you. And also, later Jonathan Richman."


ULTIMATE LOVE FOREVER was written by Lex Walton, produced by Lex and Dan Boeckner, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Ben Greenberg at Thump and Circular Ruin in Williamsburg, with assistant engineer Alice Cohen. ULTIMATE LOVE FOREVER features appearances from Boeckner (Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs), Emerson Borakove, Alice Cohen, Brendan Dunphy, Emily Green (Geese), Greenberg (Uniform, The Men), Scotty Malcolm, Sarah Neufeld (Arcade Fire), and Sam Revaz (Geese).

Der Komponist, Produzent, Musiker und DJ Floating Points, alias Sam Shepherd, präsentiert „Mere Mortals“, seine erste Ballettpartitur in voller Länge. Das Ballett, das von Tamara Rojo, der künstlerischen
Leiterin des San Francisco Ballet, in Auftrag gegeben und inszeniert wurde, mit Choreografie von Aszure
Barton und Bühnenbild sowie visuellen Elementen von Hamill Industries, interpretiert die Geschichte von
Pandora in einer Verschmelzung von Mythos, Musik und Bewegung neu. Das mit dem San Francisco Ballet
Orchestra für die Deutsche Grammophon aufgenommene Album mit 14 Titeln ist eine kraftvolle Mischung
aus elegischen Streichern, apokalyptischen Blechbläsern und pulsierender Elektronik. Von der lyrischen
Solovioline in „Hope“ über die Dissonanzen und die hämmernden Percussions in „Rage of the Gods“ bis
hin zur exquisiten Harfenmelodie in „Her Gift“ vor der unheimlichen Atmosphäre von „Opening of the Jar“
ist die Partitur reich an Textur und Wirkung. Orchesterklänge tauchen aus einem elektronischen Dunst auf
und spiegeln die zentrale Frage des Balletts wider: Wo endet der Mensch und wo beginnt die Maschine?

Social Distortion's third eponymous album from 1990 turned out to be their best-known work and would come to spawn the most hits, with singles 'Ball And Chain', 'Story Of My Life' and the Johnny Cash cover 'Ring Of Fire'. It mixed Punk with Rockabilly, Blues & Country, and split the difference between Rockabilly and Ramones-style Punk. It is albums like this that prove why Social Distortion was able to survive the demise of the LA Hardcore scene with flair and come out on top!

John Weldon "J.J." Cale was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Though he avoided the limelight (being temperamentally averse to celebrity), his influence as a musical artist has been widely acknowledged by artists like Mark Knopfler, Neil Young, and Eric Clapton, who described him as one of the most important artists in the history of rock.

J.J. Cale is considered to be one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound, a loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz. Cale unfortunately passed away in 2013, but his legacy lives on. Number 10 is Cale’s 10th album and contains another wonderful and laid back/mellow collection of typical J.J. Cale tunes. "Traces", "Artificial Paradise", "Low Rides" and "Jailer" are considered part of his best 1990s songs.

Number 10 is available as a limited edition of 1000 numbered copies on turquoise vinyl, and includes an insert.

Celebrating 30 years since ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ was released, this classic will be made available on limited edition pearl vinyl and features the remastered audio and bonus tracks released as part of the album’s 25th Anniversary in 2021.

Masterminded by the trio of Cuban bandleader Juan de Marcos González, American producer and guitarist Ry Cooder, and British producer and label owner Nick Gold, 'Buena Vista Social Club’ is both the name given to this extraordinary group of musicians and the album they recorded in just seven days in 1996 in Havana’s 1950s vintage EGREM studios. It was clear from the atmosphere of the recording sessions that something very special was taking place. However, no one could have predicted that Buena Vista Social Club would become a worldwide phenomenon – awarded a Grammy in 1997 and, at over 8 million copies, outselling any other record in the same genre.

The acclaim of the original album elevated the artists (including Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén González, Eliades Ochoa, Compay Segundo and Omara Portuondo) to superstar status, inspired an award-winning film by Wim Wenders, a Tony Award-Winning Broadway Musical and contributed to popularising Cuba’s rich musical heritage. Produced by Ry Cooder and Executive Produced by Nick Gold for World Circuit, the timeless quality of the music and the sheer verve of the veteran performers have ensured that this album will go down as one of the landmark recordings of the 20th century.

Dutch producer Kid Sublime presents his first EP on Makin’ Moves, here he teams up with Philly singer/song writer Lady Alma exploring elements of soul, broken beat and house.

The EP kicks off with The Grind a super smooth soulful house track, that catches your attention straight away with its groovy baseline that remains throughout adding to that Alma’s meaningful lyrics demonstrating the power of the music as she uses it as to get herself through the day.
The positivity continues on ‘Can You Feel It’ another quality piece of soulful house as the action moves to the dance floor as the beat and grove winds you in as once again Alma’s lyrics drop perfectly on the track.
The B side shows Kid switch it up on the broken beat production wiith ‘Ready To Meet You’ a touching song about two individuals excited to meet each other for the first time, a sure shot hit for the ‘bruk’ beat and dance heads alike!

What's Left is the new album by Tom Henry, releasing November 20th, 2026 on Royal Oakie Records. Where his debut album Songs to Sing and Dance To leaned into big dreams, What's Left is a record about what remains once the dust settles, delivered with the wit and charm of a young rocker in his prime. The familiar influences are still there — Paul McCartney and Big Star loom large (though there's a little more Third/Sister Lovers this time around), but now the songs are lush and polished, with new sounds creeping in around Henry’s trademark power pop hooks. On a handful of tracks you can even hear strains of Syd Barrett influenced acid-folk alongside psychedelic rock that recalls The Brian Jonestown Massacre or The Beatles at their most lysergic.

Produced in collaboration with David Glasebrook (Patti Smith, Peter Case, Sugar Candy Mountain), and engineered by Glasebrook and Stephen Shirk, the album was tracked across two cities at Shirk Studios in Chicago, IL and The Garden Shed in Oakland, CA, where Glasebrook also handled mixing and mastering. The record's cross-continental origins reflect the movements of Tom’s own life over the past half decade, which found him departing his native Chicago for Los Angeles before returning home four years later, and lend the album its distinctive sound of Midwestern grit mixed with California sunshine across all twelve tracks.

Opener "Someone I Need" sets the tone: an old-fashioned, up-beat rocker built for a roadside diner jukebox somewhere out along the backroads of your mind — it's crunchy tape tones and horn arrangement lending warmth to the song as the narrator asks for a dance and beckons the listener along for the ride. By "It's Not Meant to Be," the record turns inward, wrestling with the exhaustion of trying to find love in the modern age — especially for someone who wears their heart on their sleeve and often comes to find their suitor's wardrobe doesn't have room. "Silverlake Song," reminiscent of early Donovan, kicks off with otherworldly sitar — a wry postcard from the west, tracing how the shimmering promise of L.A.'s Silver Lake enchants, bargains with, and ultimately tries to ruin the starry-eyed dreamer — and very nearly succeeds.

In addition to Tom–who sang and played guitar, bass, and keys–the album features musical contributions from co-producer David Glasebrook, Brian Daley, Joe Daley, Finn Swingley, Lewis Patzner, and labelmates Graham Patzner, Charles Lloyd, and Simon Beins. Liner notes come courtesy of Ian F. Svenonius, who — in the guise of one Johnny Sincere of Integrated Star Management Ltd. — recounts his company's failed attempt to sell Tom Henry a gimmick: a space suit, a coal miner's neckerchief, a lounge pianist's dead-eyed shades. Tom turned them all down. As Svenonius tells it, when reminded that every story's been told and every gimmick's been used, that all that's left is to admire the photographs of what's gone before, Tom simply shrugged: rock 'n' roll is an eternal spring, and if this is what's left, that's just fine with him — it's what he likes to do.

Balaise was the original title of Vers le Nord’s debut album. In French slang, balaise means something in between badass and flamboyant. The word keeps popping up throughout the record, like a teenager’s graffiti scrawled on a bus shelter after a few drinks. Balaise robots. Balaise ghosts lurking in the shadows. Balaise is the barfly who fantasies about becoming a street vigilante. In many ways, Matthieu Pellerin's new solo project is entirely contained within that word: a gigantic piece one man against the world cobbled together, a monument shaped by hand using layers of synthesizers sounding like cathedral organs cast in concrete.


Stitching this type of freak together took time. Five years, or what sounds like forever in an age obsessed with career trajectories and content strategies. But for Matthieu Pellerin, it was never about career plans or taking the easy road. Or he would have dug up the rotting corpse of Oi Boys, his now-defunct band, whose brief existence and explosive popularity once united sullen skinheads, gothic street punks, and old school punks alike. Or he would have fully embraced the Metz scene, now that the Great International Triple Alliance of the East (Noir Boy George, The Dreams, The Feeling Of Love...) and rising solo acts like Tune Zitoune, Josy Bazar, Fantôme Josepha, and Tony Gerrano have somehow transformed this sprawling open-air heroin camp into an unlikely capital of cool. But Vers le Nord doesn't point East, and it is as a lone rider that Matthieu Pellerin can fully reveal his songwriting scope.


With Le Seul Élément, his first solo project, the Lorraine native had already shown a rare gift for crafting worlds. Picture vast sonic masses stretching like industrial zones, noise-filled fog pierced by pale neon lights and landscapes caught somewhere between the gnarliest dive bar and a doomsday bunker. And slipping through the soul-crushing slowness and fractured blackened atmospheres, one could perceive a throwback to his years plotting in black metal-tinged Loth and Bishop.

Vers le Nord populates those landscapes that once were rough sketches. Damaged characters reign supreme, with a plethora of exquisite mutts brought to life, rather than outcasts committed to the cause. Where Nuits Blanches —his new supergroup featuring members of Rixe, Lion's Law, Headbussa and La Femme— pulls no punches with raw confessions, Pellerin switches gear for tales of robot apocalypses, vagrants and fam-seeking school shooters, delivered with William Sheller-esque rhymes and striking images. Yet even within fiction, he manages to create something deeply intimate, almost defining, showing very little effort: he is a natural. All in all, à l’aise (at ease). Songs resonate deeply with the listener, perhaps because of Pellerin’s odd way or always addressing someone without ever really naming them, a floating, obsessive and inescapable “you” calling us out.


Despite all of the darkness, Vers le Nord stirs deep emotions. There is something of Type O Negative or Anna von Hausswolff in its constant collision of the ludicrous and the epic gothic, its bleak romanticism that never tells a sordid tale. While the vocals remain rooted in a distinctly French punk lineage—think No Class, La Souris Déglinguée and OG Bérurier Noir—the reactor core is hidden somewhere else. Oneohtrix Point Never feels like a closer relative with his ultra-emotional music made of cold synths and disembodied anthems, swallowing and regurgitating forty years of icy, contemplative new wave across ten songs. It comes as no surprise that Lila Ehjä and Aimable, two rising specialists in lowering the temperature below seasonal norms, appear on “Enterrez-moi bordel” (“Bury Me, for fuck's sake”), a grandiose, spectral and magnificently arrogant finale. And in the end, Vers le Nord starts where the original idea was hiding all along: somewhere amid the ruins, definitely balaise and yet somehow, completely à l'aise.

As a longtime member of Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem, Al Doyle has spent decades working alongside two of the most distinct vocalists in modern pop: Alexis Taylor and James Murphy. If he’s had a song or an idea, there’s always been someone else he’d rather have sing it.
But on November 20, 2026, the British multi-instrumentalist will release Hollywood Saviour, an album that drove him to finally embrace his own voice. “It’s me discovering a way to write and sing stuff that I could live with,” he says of his first-ever solo outing.
Recorded in his East London studio, Relax and Enjoy, Hollywood Saviour has the feeling—the rush and release—of a breakthrough, of an artist letting go. Doyle’s found freedom in simplicity here, leaning into the many pleasures of guitar-bass-drums, indulging wholeheartedly in the weird, spontaneous, raucous, and raw. He sounds free.
That sense of fun and rampant possibility can be felt in every groove, Doyle finding added inspiration in the loose and the louche, from Sexual Harassment’s 1983 electro-funk raunch-o-rama “I Need A Freak” to Throbbing Gristle’s locomotive 1980 paean to jerking off, “Something Came Over Me,” which is lovingly covered here.
At times, this album feels like a delirious response to the darkness of our current moment. On opener “Hard Times in America,” Doyle offers us a psychedelic window into his experiences traveling back and forth to the United States in recent years, feeling fascism’s hold tighten with each visit.
That sense of character comes through in Doyle’s vocal approach, a giddy combination of Iggy Pop, Pete Shelley, and PIL-era John Lydon. On “All I Want for Christmas”—a dark and devastating highlight—he takes on the shape of a drug addict come holiday season, “both dead and alive,” abandoned by his family, stumbling through a garden of drum machine and piano. It’s a pop song, lovely and lovingly rendered. It just wouldn’t be the same without his voice.

Very Limited Edition

Vocalisations like ‘Hooo’ and ‘Huhuh’ form the wordplay on Use Knife’s upcoming release as these sounds are meant to summon strength, overcome fear and unleash unwavering sonic assault. Set for November 20, the EP ‘Hooo Huhuh’, on the band’s own Hooo Huhuh record label, is Use Knife’s first release since its acclaimed 2nd album ‘État Coupable’ on VIERNULVIER records in 2025.

The journey of Use Knife began in 2020 during a music residency in art centre VIERNULVIER (Gent, be) when Iraqi percussionist Saif Al-Qaissy, Stef Heeren and Kwinten Mordijck, as well as the multidisciplinary artist and scenographer Youniss Ahamad, came together to form Use Knife, later joined by Jerusalem In My Heart’s Radwan Ghazi Moumneh as mixer and guest musician. The project quickly gained the attention of prestigious platforms like The Wire, The Quietus, BBC6's New Music Fix, KEXP, NTS, Inverted Audio, METAL Magazine, Ma3azef, A Closer Listen, and others documenting the universal resonance of Use Knife's message.

Since releasing its debut album ‘The Shedding of Skin’ on VIERNULVIER, a remix EP ‘Peace Carnival’ on Morphine records, and follow-up album ‘État Coupable’, Use Knife has played its visceral audio-visual liveshows at many prestigious festivals like Le Guess Who?, Tremor, Colours of Ostrava, Les Trans Musicales, Rewire, Sonic City, Resonator, Roadburn, Donau, Fusion, Rage Sacrée, Micro, Clandestino, E-fest and many more.

Praised by The Quietus and The Wire for its vibrant and wholehearted performances, Use Knife has been described as an electrifying live act that fully engages its members and audience alike. Their sound, dubbed 'industrial Iraqi EBM', is celebrated for its ability to immerse the audience in a hypnotic state, erasing global borders through real-life connection and dazzling visuals on gigantic projection fabrics, resulting in exhilarating sensory experiences.

Further extending Use Knife's influence, Radio alHara in Palestine has hosted Use Knife's 'Feeding the Gentry' show since 2023, where the band aims to build a community by opening their platform to other guests like Saint Abdullah & Eomac, Monstera Occulta, Cinna Peyghami, Bader, Anthony Sahyoun, ... thus broadening the band's international reach and impact.

Earlier this year, Use Knife collaborated with Rabih Beaini from Morphine Records to re-remix the band’s track ‘To Feed the Gentry’ (feat. Radwan Ghazi Moumneh), blending in the beautiful track ‘Kunna’ by Rully Shabara. The resulting track was included in Beacon Sound’s compilation ‘Gaza is the Moral Compass’ to help support Palestinian-led mutual-aid groups on the ground in Gaza.

The forthcoming 'Hooo Huhuh' EP, releasing on November 20, advocates for the resilience and determination of the people, their collectives and communities, with energetic vocalizations, distorted percussion and throbbing saxophones. The title track, originally mixed by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh and mastered by Heba Kadry during the ‘État Coupable’ sessions, has been surgically reworked into the clubby rant that is ‘Ho Hahaa Huh’ and the drone-like mantra ‘Nobody Can Separate Us محد يكدر يفركنا’.

The limited vinyl edition comes with a 3-color risoprinted sleeve designed by Lebanese artist and graphic designer Farah Fayyad.

New York hardcore royalty Sick Of It All returns to vinyl with a striking, crystal-clear LP reissue of their hard-hitting 2010 masterpiece Based On A True Story, pressed via Back on Black!

A staple of the ’80s electro-funk and disco scenes, On The Shelf by The B.B. & Q. Band is a classic 1985 disco-funk track. Remixed by legendary Dutch producer and DJ Ben Liebrand. (“BL” stands for Ben Liebrand), who created several extended and “Finest” mixes for the group’s seminal 1986 Genie album. Now remastered and reworked, these mixes are on point: electro drums, punchy keys, and really warm, subtle bass. A very sexy slice of mid-80s disco funk with soul.

„Song of Songs“ ist die zweite Sammlung von Hard-Bop-Avantgarde-Kompositionen des legendären Trompeters
Woody Shaw auf dem Label Contemporary, produziert von Lester und John Koenig. Mit einer hochkarätigen Besetzung, darunter Benny Maupin, George Cables und Henry Franklin, bringt diese Neuauflage von
Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf das Album nach fünf Jahrzehnten wieder auf Vinyl – geschnitten von Kevin
Gray direkt von den originalen analogen Bändern (AAA), gepresst auf 180-Gramm-Vinyl bei Fidelity Record
Pressing, in einer Gatefold-Tip-On-Hülle.

In their countless years of deep digging, Dark Entries has uncovered many curiosities, oddball Italo and synth-wave creatures too rare to live, too funky to die. Dark Entries’s conservationist efforts began with 2020’s Endangered Species Vol 1. Six years later, we are finally treated Endangered Species Vol 2, an even more ambitious effort which features eleven specimens previously deemed extinct, now safely preserved on vinyl. Things kick off with an extended mix of Palazzo di Danza’s “Play That Song For Me,” a lavishly produced German-Italo number propelled by a slinky bassline. Russian Olga Vosconyan’s “Cars” delivers what might be the moodiest song ever produced for a car commercial.

Fuzz Dance maestro Alexander Robotnick appears with a previously unreleased male vocal demo version of “I Wanna Believe,” a legendary track that would later appear under the name Gina & the Flexix. Canadian industrial royalty Dwayne R. Goettel (Psyche) and cEvin Key (Skinny Puppy) team up on the horror-sampling hit-heavy blaster “Bastards.” Belgian EBM progenitors à;GRUMH... report for duty with a slab of machine funk on “The Army.” UK DIY stalwarts Khmer Rouge bring Krautrock-inflected minimalism with “Take Me (Across the Floor Tonight) In Dub.” Endangered Species Vol 2 comes housed in a sleeve designed by Eloise Shir-Juen Leigh, and includes a 16 page booklet featuring liner notes, lyrics, and photographs of each featured project. Please assist Dark Entries in their efforts to preserve the rarest of beasts (and beats).

"Unique Reason presents his first authorial release at Sudd WAX. His first appearance was Remixing STK at the Sudd WAX Limited 3rd release. From West Zone of Sao Paulo, the underground producer brings much Soul from his Analog MPC. Closer to Moodymann, Buzz Goore, Norm Talley, Rick 'the Godson' Wilhite, the artist sounds very influenced by Detroit Music. The release sounds Deep, House, Techno, bit of it all. The Sound Elements are dirty, lo-res, and RAW. Shinedoe appears reshaping the funky mood. What a brilliant Remix. She turned into 90's House Vibes, and build up that atmosphere back these days. This is a classic underground tune, special tool, killer dance floor weapon."

2026 Repress

"La Duquesa", the most tender and most refined piece of the album Amygdala, perfectly casual and serious, deep and euphoric, all at the same time, is dedicated to the Spanish Duquesa de Alba, who, as holder of 46 titles of nobility, is even more highly decorated than Queen Elisabeth. Koze is fascinated by this lady: With her peculiarly creepy appearance she seems like a relic from the past era of the Spanish nobility. She is the most pictured woman in Spain and a pop phenomenon. When, in 2011, she married a man 24 years younger than herself, the entire country badmouthed her. Sometimes Koze would love to be that younger
man, who the Spaniards dismiss as a legacy hunter! Encore the needle is cookin'. Dj Koze did it again. His homage to Audrey Horne. "Burn with me" - a fucked up, deep and schizophrenic brainfoodbouncer with legato bass and hi hats way out of time. The beat burst like shagging, the dirty off hi-hat lashes remorseless in the twatherd - everyone just wants to get laid straight away.

On a class debut for Biscuit’s choice Good Morning Tapes label, Kyoto’s dub specialist G Version III runs signature fusions of digidub steppers, drill, and holographic, minor-key FM synths.

One up on her 12” for Riddim Chango last year (plus the »Scenery From Double Glazing« tape for Digital Sting in ’24), G Version III’s »Chapter II« most finely chisels her lucidly rugged definition of the late ’80s / early ’90s mystic steppers sound. The OG Caribbean spirit is heard filtered through UK dances and shored up in Japan, where G tessellates its salient points with a palette of glassy Japanese synth tones and chamber music to exquisite effect. If Wendy Carlos was a soundgyal?

Across six cuts she builds the dance around digidub x drill waltz »Livin 4« and a haunted dancehall special in the harpsichord/horn riff of »An Idyll«, impressing her prowess in the fusion of subcontinental scales with a drill-tipped skip in »Queen G Theme Chapter II«, and tucking right into an aerodynamic, flying steppers mode, shades away from Element, in »Motherearth Guidance«. At a slower, wider stride her »Higher Grade« goes eyes-down on massive subs, and »Voice of Mystique Warriyah« adapts the classic-schooled sound like TNT Roots in Tokyo.

Hen & Goose returns to the shelves with a heavyweight compilation for their 6th installment.
Gathering friends and family for a versatile 5-tracker, this record explores the raw and emotive side
of House music.

The record opens with a bang: Dukwa delivers a raw, driving peak-time cut that demands attention,
followed by the dusty, swinging grooves of rising talent Moglis. On the flip, Bobby Cazanova sets
the mood with "Realidad" – a lush groover carried by warm pads and a Balearic touch. This paves
the way for label head Júlio Cruz, who delivers a nostalgic, vocal-led Deep House anthem that
blends pure euphoria with a touch of melancholy. Finally, Bobby Analog closes the affair, taking us
back to the roots with his trademark raw and dusty sound.

A record bag essential that works from the peak time to the early morning hours.

Liz Harris has worked with film closely since she began making and performing music live - both her own work, and that of various filmmakers - including a near decade long collaboration with Paul Clipson, and multiple live collaborations with Dicky Bahto and Takashi Makino.

On Music For Two Films About Water she presents two recent scores for short films by the artists Tanja Engelberts and Takashi Makino. Each film, as the album title suggests, is an exploration of water, though beyond that, each work and soundtrack varies - blending literal, improvisatory and impressionistic translations of the theme. Her accompaniment layers mercurial threads of mellotron, tape loops, Wurlitzer and field recordings.

Untitled (from We Exhale)

This piece was originally composed for the film We Exhale. In the film, artist Tanja Engelberts takes the perspective of the river itself, tracing how centuries of damming, channelling, and industrial pollution have reduced the Rhône from a living landscape to a hydraulic object—its breath slowly distorting as chemical processes break down what remains. Her work asks what a poisoned river sounds like when it exhales, confronting us with damage that operates beyond human timescales, already embedded in the river’s body. In her artistic practice, Engelberts investigates how landscapes that are no longer visible can be documented. Rather than excavating the past, she collects and rearranges what she finds on the surface—as a creative exposition of the present. Engelberts’ work places attention on the ‘here’ and ‘now’, allowing traces of the past to be recognized while possible futures can be imagined.

Untitled (from Constellation)

This soundtrack scores the film iteration of a project by Takashi Makino titled Constellation, a collection of works exploring how new meanings emerge through the arrangement of existing images, memories, and fragments. In the film, images, appearing and disappearing within mercurial water textures, are clearly present before the viewer, yet maintain their abstractness and imaginative nature until the very end—projected onto the screen and delivered to the viewer as material for forming new images. Fantasy and reality merge in oceanic, lucid dream. Inspired by the way ancient people connected scattered stars to create narratives, his work invites viewers to discover their own relationships between images and construct new meanings from what already exists. In his artistic practice, Makino captures video of ready-made objects including natural phenomena, humans, and cities, with various formats. In the editing process, he layers and configures them into the fields of mesmerizing, shimmering textures that distinguish his imaginative films.

1st repress of the rare UK compilation “In Reggae Time”.

Originally released in 1970, it brings together a series of very rare tracks issued only on 7" singles around 1967 by Ember Records and its sub-labels.

The sound is not just Reggae—it’s only marginally so—offering a vibrant mix of 1960s UK mod, R&B, Ska, and Northern soul.

Limited-edition Picture-disc LP.

Nachdem seine legendären Aufnahmen aus den 1970er Jahren zu grundlegenden Meilensteinen des modernen Reggae geworden waren, setzte der einflussreiche Musiker und Produzent Augustus Pablo in den folgenden zwei Jahrzehnten fort, neue Ausdrucksformen seines einzigartigen Sounds zu entdecken. Ob er nun seine Dub-Meisterschaft mit digitalen Techniken verfeinerte oder die instrumentale Palette seiner basslastigen Melodica-Grooves erweiterte - der wegweisende jamaikanische Künstler blieb während seiner kurzen Zeit auf dieser Welt stets ein Innovator. Nur wenige Wochen vor seinem vorzeitigen Tod im Jahr 1999 erschien ,Valley Of Jehosaphat" - das letzte Album von Augustus Pablo und ein zeitloses Statement eines Künstlers, der seiner Vision stets treu blieb . Mit einer Produktionsqualität, die die körnigen Klassiker seiner frühen Karriere bei weitem übertrifft, erklingen die fesselnden Instrumentalarrangements dieser Sammlung mit Klarheit und fangen die friedliche Essenz von Pablos Kreativität ein. Jetzt erscheint ,Valley Of Jehosaphat" zum ersten Mal überhaupt als vollständige Vinyl-Veröffentlichung. Dank Nature Sounds und dem neu gestarteten Label Rockers International enthält diese 2-LP-Vinyl-Edition außerdem fünf Bonustracks mit seltenem Material von Augustus Pablo aus den 1990er Jahren.

London-based NorthSouth Records has been quietly going about solid business for eight or so years now, and the 14th outing is a fresh one from CROFT. about whom we know little. But this EP suggests he's a slick hand in the studio with a love of melody twisting and psyched-out tech house. 'Beat Freek' is fast and punchy with nice neon colours swirling through the mix. 'Space Please' has a more broken and physical beat with some warped low end, and 'Licking Shells' then plays with synth texture across some shimmering arps that take centre stage in the mix before the closer is the sleaziest of the lot. 'West Ryder' has molten bass and rasping lines worming in and out of a crispy beat. Varied and brilliant throughout.

Magazine Announces 15th Anniversary Remaster of Barnt’s Techno Classic Geffen

Cologne-based record label Magazine celebrates the 15th anniversary of Barnt’s visionary anthem Geffen. One of electronic music's most defining tracks of the 2010s will be reissued in a 2026 remaster edition, marking the first time it receives its own dedicated standalone release.

Originally published on the legendary Cómeme imprint as part of the Various Artists EP The Power Of Now, the track rapidly became a global phenomenon. Looking back, one can hardly imagine Geffen without the 2010s, or, conversely, maybe even electronic music of that era without it. The composition mirrors the expressive possibilities of bedroom producers at the beginning of that decade—an era where artists could launch tracks into the world and have them resonate through their sheer sonic power, without major marketing efforts.

Barnt remembers: "It was one of my earliest tracks. I had just entered art school and didn't own much equipment. My MIDI keyboard only had two octaves. I would always play notes with my right hand while simultaneously shifting through the octaves with my left. This is how the hook line came to life. The production only consisted of seven or eight stems, and barely any equalizers were used during the mixdown. In hindsight, this sparse approach to production probably made it sound different and is why it hits so hard on big sound systems (while sounding unfinished to some on YouTube). At that time, we were doing a small festival on a playground in the center of Cologne. When I played the CDR there, Matias Aguayo demanded it right after. That is how it ended up on Cómeme."

The release comes with two very Magazine-esque reinterpretations from the label's two other co-founders alongside Barnt: a powerful atmospheric club remix by Jens-Uwe Beyer, and Magazine Hallucination, a wild, collaborative, psychedelic mutation by Crato and Beyer.

Jörg Burger, who already mastered the original track, is also responsible for the mastering of this release.

Swooped Records would like to introduce our limited series of vinyl only edits We love many of the edit labels with 1-2 tracks per release, and we’re going to help you value up with 4 top-shelf cuts on every record! We kick it off with Chainsnatcher “Jump Up In It” Vox that is straight up, dirty, bumping House music! It’s also featured on Derrick Carter’s for The 6 Mix w/ Mary Anne Hobbs on BBC’s flagship BBC Radio 6 Music. Next up Ric Viera of Guided Methods fame teams up with Elrose for “Only Ewe”. This funky House take on an afro-boogie jam will shake the dance floor and keep the discerning heads nodding. The flip side brings us Chainsnatcher “Jump Up On it” Dub. This is for those that want a stripped back version of the Vox with well placed, minimal vocal snippets and that dance floor boogie. Agent 818 rounds it off with “Don’t Let Nobody” and it’s time to get the summer time vibe started pronto! This jam will do the trick whether it’s day party-fun to after-hours strutting, just ask DJ Heather as she’s been playing it for a minute now.

Hope you dig!

Sheffield's Monkz returns to GAMM with a gritty 7" combining Brazilian rhythms with a Chicago 4/4 stomp !

A side 'Doce Coelhinha' delivers a wild mix of samba rhythms, baile funk vocals, and 80's electro beats...and it WORKS!

On the flip, 'Wun Uv U' moves down to the basement: a raw, old--chool Chicago house cut anchored by prominent hip-hop vocals from a familiar voice.

"As sharp as I sing, it still soothes you, doesn't it? Like a lick of ice cream?" sings Thao Nguyen on her Kill Rock Stars debut, We Brave Bee Stings and All. Whether it's intentional or not, the line describes her sound perfectly. Nguyen's rich, breathy voice -- and the way she croons, yelps, and drawls with it -- recalls Cat Power, Fiona Apple, and Sinéad O'Connor. However, these comparisons suggest that Thao is a searing, intense artist when nothing could be further from the truth: her country-tinged indie folk-pop is playfully observant, mischievous with just a hint of vulnerability. By playing against type and putting a voice that seems tailor-made for brooding into songs that are sunny and sweet, Nguyen carves out her own intriguing territory among indie folk songstresses.

On We Brave Bee Stings and All's first two songs. "Beat (Health, Life and Fire)" builds brass, ukulele, and piano to an urgent but joyous peak, while "Bag of Hammers" is as rambling as it is catchy. The interplay between Nguyen and her band, the Get Down Stay Down, is more intuitive than ever, and the album's fuller sound (courtesy of producer Tucker Martine) complements her more fully formed songs.

In fact, most of the album is so cheery that it's a good thing Nguyen's voice isn't delicate, or her music might be sickly sweet instead of fresh and engaging. Fortunately, "Feet Asleep"'s Dixieland moxie and "Geography"'s jazzy flourishes help keep the album from sounding too predictable. Even if this isn't Thao's first album, We Brave Bee Stings and All is a fine introduction to her music.

Die Rare Groove Collection: Ethiopian Rare Groove beleuchtet einen der faszinierendsten Schmelztiegel moderner Musikgeschichte. In den Clubs und Cabarets des vibrierenden Addis Abeba der 1960er und 1970er Jahre entstand ein einzigartiger Sound, der äthiopische Traditionen mit Soul, Funk, Jazz und Disco verschmolz. Diese Edition versammelt rare und prägende Aufnahmen einer Szene, die bis heute weltweit nachhallt. Künstler wie Mulatu Astatke, Mahmoud Ahmed oder Getatchew Mekurya stehen für eine Musik von hypnotischer Kraft, getragen von polyrhythmischen Grooves, markanten Bläserlinien und unverwechselbaren Melodien. Das Doppel-Vinyl ist mehr als eine Compilation: Es ist ein musikalisches Zeitdokument, das die kreative Energie einer urbanen Hochphase einfängt - rau, elegant und zeitlos zugleich.

Deep in the sea lives one of Earth's most ancient creatures: the Nautilus. Hunted for its beautiful shell and now, through our global evolution, endangered, like so many other beings. Perhaps most astonishingly, no one has ever observed a baby Nautilus in the wild. The title track of this debut EP takes you on a dark journey, searching through the deep ocean for this elusive animal.

On the other side, I don't believe in Fermi’s Golden Rule, is a sonic interpretation of a statement made during a quantum field theory lecture, questioning the experimental mathematics often used to derive the famous rule. But actually, trying to express the confusion about quantum physics in general.

The dub-infused EP is mainly inspired by the pioneering magic of Detroit’s electronic music scientists and the experiments of European electro wizards.

Hamburg's GOME joins the roster of Cinthie's 803 Crystal Grooves Collective Cuts sub-label here with a new fourtrack EP entitled 'Free Refill', featuring a collaboration with James Juke. GOME is shaking up dance floors worldwide with a raw, 90s-inspired House sound infused with Funk, Soul and Disco.

Having built a strong reputation through releases on Heist Recordings and his own Snackwax imprint, GOME has earned support from leading DJs and performed at renowned venues including Robert Johnson (DE), Berghain (DE), Golden Pudel (DE), Shelter (NL), Lofi (NL) or Blitz, to name but a few. Alongside celebrated live hardware performances and the community-focused "GOME + The Gang" events, GOME has become known for an authentic DIY approach, making this new 'Free Refill' project a fitting addition to the Collective Cuts catalogue. Leading the EP is the collaborative 'Keep The Party Going' with James Juke, an apt title for a frenzied five-anda- half-minute House jam featuring swinging, snappy drums, siren-like synth swells, gritty chord stabs and an amalgamation of vocal hooks throughout. 'Extraordinary' follows, employing a gritty electro-leaning bassline, a crunchy off-kilter rhythm section, twitchy arpeggio lines and a loopy, infectious vocal refrain. On the flip-side, 'CONGRATULATIONS' sees GOME lean heavily into House roots, perfectly aligned with the Crystal Grooves sonic aesthetic. Harkening back to 90s rave culture, it combines shimmering piano hooks, squelchy 303 licks, robust 909 drums and murky low-pitched vocals. 'You Make' then closes the EP, a loop-led cut fuelled by circling synth lines, bright strings, a bouncy low end and a fluttering vocal hook.

Following 2024’s Echoes of the Night EP, Michael Hodgson returns with Apply the Dub: four stunning new Adrian Sherwood remixes, this time of his long-running solo project, Misled Convoy.

The EP’s title is a nod to Sherwood’s renowned process in which tracks are not simply remixed, but dismantled, fed into his dub machinery and reimagined. The results are spacious and compelling, epic in scope, rich in detail and loaded with bass.

The prophetic voice of Kat Five (Feral Five) looms large on the opening track, as does Miho Wada’s flute on the last. David “Ital Horns” Fullwood returns to the project, providing trumpet to two of the tunes, while Doug Wimbish (Tack>>Head / Living Colour) adds bass, and Mark Bandola (The Lucy Show) guitar and keys, to a different pair of remixes.

The sessions began in 2025, with the original tracks drawn from the more experimental and industrial side of Misled Convoy, giving Sherwood plenty of room to work with sonically. In his Ramsgate studio, frequencies were pulled apart, bass lines elevated and melodies stretched while sounds disappeared into layers of delay, echo and dub processing before emerging dazed & confused and somewhere else entirely.

Since dub is the compositional glue that fuels Hodgson’s creative dynamic, this collaboration meant reverse engineering his process and stripping his compositions back to the bare bones: “Before we hit the studio, I had to remove a whole lot of my effects to make space for Adrian, which made the track sound empty and super weird, but this is how the magic happens. When you do a remix, you are inviting an artist you respect into your creative process and watch it get reimagined. This is a big part of dub and remix culture.”

Very much a meeting of two complementary approaches to sound, Apply the Dub has Hodgson’s dark and atmospheric electronica enhanced and deeply embellished by Sherwood’s long-established sonic manipulation and dub-mixing.

For Hodgson, the connection with Sherwood and On-U Sound has been life-long, from being a fan in his youth in Aotearoa New Zealand to supporting Patrick Docktor’s archiving of the label’s video and audio collection in London. In 2019 Sherwood invited Hodgson to collaborate with artist Peter Harris to create a visual backdrop to accompany his Time Boom X The Upsetter Dub Sessions tour. Hodgson went on to create videos for On-U’s 40th anniversary celebration at The Forum in London, helped with the immersive 3D Live Dub Experience at Earth Theatre and travelled to Japan for the Collapse of Everything tour where he worked on live video triggering for Sherwood’s shows.

WHAM! 10 Days in China - The Live EP features four live performances from WHAM!’s historic 1985 concerts in Beijing and Guangzhou, as seen in the highly acclaimed, 5-star rated documentary WHAM! 10 Days in China. As the first Western Pop group to perform in China, these performances cemented the duo as global superstars. Featuring previously unreleased live audio, newly mixed and mastered from the original recordings.

2026 Repress

Son of sins.
Black days, asphalt jungle.
Silence,
while she was out there.

***
Early support by: Blawan, Surgeon, Dave Clarke, Tommy Four Seven, Speedy J, Chris Liebing, Gary Beck, Marcel Dettmann, Truncate, Pfirter, Rebekah, Chris Finke, The Public Stand, Radial, Clouds, Paul Birken, Kriz, Mr. Jones, Lag, Sunil Sharpe, Charlton, D. Carbone, Juho Kusti, Jeff Derringer, Pacou, Paula Temple, Erphun, P.E.A.R.L. , Thomas Hessler, Paul Mac, Henning Baer, Luis Ruiz, Gareth Wild, NX1, Sandrien, J. Tijn, Joachim Spieth, Exium, Nuno dos Santos, Octave, Markus Suckut, The Black Dog, Xhin, The Zone, Blindspot, Samuli Kemppi, Hans Bouffmyhre, Fran Hartnett, Christian Wunsch, Wire, Sawf, Inigo Kennedy, Hector Oaks, Kontort, Adam X, Rich Jones aka Operator, L.A.W, Mark Morris...

At the height of grunge, Morphine sounded like nobody else. The Boston trio built their own strange, seductive musical language (coined "low rock" by frontman Mark Sandman), built around Sandman's two-string slide bass and unmistakable voice, Dana Colley’s baritone & tenor saxophone, and stripped-back drums (Jerome Deupree, Billy Conway). Morphine became one of the defining cult bands of the ’90s, but their story came to an abrupt end in 1999, when Sandman suffered a fatal heart attack on stage during a concert in Italy.

More than 25 years later, Cocoon offers an extraordinary final chapter. Its eight songs were recorded during Morphine’s late-’90s sessions before Sandman ultimately shelved the material on the path toward what would become their final album. Rediscovered in the band’s archives decades later, Sandman’s life partner and Morphine estate manager Sabine Hrechdakian and producer Paul Q. Kolderie (Radiohead, Pixies) transferred the original tapes and carefully assembled this unified collection of Morphine songs. Dana Colley returned to add new saxophone parts, and Kolderie then brought new mixes to the table. Rather than a collection of demos or outtakes, Cocoon is a fully realized Morphine album revealing a band still pushing forward that somehow waited nearly three decades to find its way into the world


Album Background

The background on the album is that the majority of the songs existed in demo form on a CD release called "Sandbox" a semi-legit release of Mark Sandman music on 2004. These versions are the completed tracks that include contributions from Morphine saxphonist
Dana Colley and produced and mastered by Morphine's long time producer Paul Kolderie.

At the height of grunge, Morphine sounded like nobody else. The Boston trio built their own strange, seductive musical language (coined "low rock" by frontman Mark Sandman), built around Sandman's two-string slide bass and unmistakable voice, Dana Colley’s baritone & tenor saxophone, and stripped-back drums (Jerome Deupree, Billy Conway). Morphine became one of the defining cult bands of the ’90s, but their story came to an abrupt end in 1999, when Sandman suffered a fatal heart attack on stage during a concert in Italy.

More than 25 years later, Cocoon offers an extraordinary final chapter. Its eight songs were recorded during Morphine’s late-’90s sessions before Sandman ultimately shelved the material on the path toward what would become their final album. Rediscovered in the band’s archives decades later, Sandman’s life partner and Morphine estate manager Sabine Hrechdakian and producer Paul Q. Kolderie (Radiohead, Pixies) transferred the original tapes and carefully assembled this unified collection of Morphine songs. Dana Colley returned to add new saxophone parts, and Kolderie then brought new mixes to the table. Rather than a collection of demos or outtakes, Cocoon is a fully realized Morphine album revealing a band still pushing forward that somehow waited nearly three decades to find its way into the world


Album Background

The background on the album is that the majority of the songs existed in demo form on a CD release called "Sandbox" a semi-legit release of Mark Sandman music on 2004. These versions are the completed tracks that include contributions from Morphine saxphonist
Dana Colley and produced and mastered by Morphine's long time producer Paul Kolderie.

Cardinal & Nun is back on L.I.E.S. with a new 12 track double lp "SCARS"

Here we get the French artist in top form going full on heads down darkwave on this record with his song writing taking a new twist. These are catchy gothic almost synth-pop arranged tracks reminiscent of some of Sheffield's and Manchester's finest, and driving enough to move the floor peaktime at the Batcave as well. Head right to the b-side for "It Doesn't Change The World" featuring Andrew Clinco, of Drab Majesty, which is a perfect slice of down trodden bass driven shoegaze with Clinco's signature vocals stamped all over it. The title track "Scars" follows, going right into new wave pop territory as well, extremely catchy and moody vocals scattered throughout. A stunning album that works for the desolate days alone whether the moon is up or the sun is going down...beautiful and powerful.

Epicentre was an R&B/funk group formed in Seattle, Washington by keyboardist Ric Ulsky. The band developed a loyal following, playing the extensive NW club, concert and dance venues throughout the mid-to-late 1970s. Their sound was a blend of melodic R&B and powerhouse funk that dependably filled music venues throughout the Western US. Bernadette Bascom was the lead vocalist, who captivated audiences with her powerful yet velvet-smooth voice and commanding, magnetic stage presence.

In 1978, Epicentre worked with Seattle producer Don McKinney to record their music in Seattle's now legendary Kaye-Smith studios. The result was seven strong, fully -produced R&B songs, with occasional horn and string orchestrations tastefully added to the final versions.

Their music quite literally sat on a shelf for decades until McKinney decided that all the hard work and talent should no longer remain undiscovered and it needed to find its audience. He restored and digitized his copies of the master tapes and looked for an opportunity. A chance call to the former leader of the group, Kell Houston, led to a serendipitous introduction to UK boutique/funk/R&B label founder Russell Paine. The result was an agreement to release their music, starting with two songs, "When You Were In Love With Me", and "Magic Carpet."

And now the follow up single of "Searchin/Tongue Tied"

Footnotes: Lead singer Bernadette Bascom became a protegé of Stevie Wonder, and was the first artist to be signed to his label Black Bull , starting a period of collaboration between the two. Bermadette is the daughter of Reverend Dr. Marion C. Bascomb (1925-2012), one of Baltimore's major civil rights voices and pastor emeritus of Baltimore's Douglas Memorial Community Church. Ric Ulsky eventually left the group to play keyboards and tour extensively with The Association. You can also find Epicentre's music on the compilation album "Seattle Funk, Modern Soul & Boogie: Volume II 1972-1987." In addition to Bernadette, the musicians on the 1978 sessions are Kell Houston, keyboards, Michael Cox, bass, John Carmondy, guitar, and Ricky Lynn Johnson, drums and vocals. While their recorded material is primarily original, Stacy Christensen from Seattle's Gabriel contributed two of his compositions.

The final chapter of The Third Room's curator-led series is shaped by GiGi FM, an artist whose work moves fluidly between club functionality, emotional storytelling and immersive sound design. Through her productions and performances, she has developed a distinct language where rhythm, atmosphere and movement exist in constant dialogue. For the closing chapter, the focus lies on cohesion. Bringing together artists connected through a shared sensitivity for groove, detail and space, the release unfolds through percussive structures and atmospheric elements that move with clarity, depth and intention. The Half Bearded Man by Fergus Sweetland opens the record. A rough yet detailed rhythmic framework, syncopated percussion and a rolling bassline create forward motion, while softer elements and a subtle vocal layer introduce a contrasting sense of lightness, drawing the listener into the track. On Shark Attak, D-Leria places percussion at the centre, but with a more restrained approach. Polyrhythmic bleeps and high-frequency sweeps weave around the groove, maintaining depth and tension without becoming intrusive, giving the track a quiet but persistent drive. The B-side opens with one of its defining moments: Anukari, a collaboration between Efdemin and GiGi FM. Bringing together two distinct approaches, the track unfolds as a layered and atmospheric piece: detailed percussion, connecting textures and subtle melodic fragments create a sense of depth that feels both modern and slightly otherworldly, while remaining inviting and grounded. Closing the record, Even by Fireground reduces the elements further. Warm chords and a restrained rhythmic core create an open, enveloping space, balancing softness with tension and allowing the track to unfold with a quiet sense of momentum. Across all four tracks, the release remains tightly cohesive: built on groove, space and carefully placed detail. As the final entry in the series, it shifts the focus from structure to flow, offering a closing chapter that feels immersive, connected and complete. A1 Written and Produced by Fergus Sweetland | A2 Written and Produced by Giuseppe Scaccia | B1 Written and Produced by Giulia Fournier & Philip Sollmann | B2 Written and Produced by Angela Dragonetto & Danielle Paduano Mastered by Ahmet Sisman (The Third Room Studios) Artwork by Charlotte Ernst Design by Daniel Bornmann (STUEDIO.XYZ) Distribution by Clone Pressing by Matter Of Fact

Highscore is one of the newest-and quite sensational-discoveries in funk of the 1980s out of Germany. Two tracks Breakin' Out and Girls So Fine, both recorded about 40 years ago and shelved ever since, are finally receiving a long-overdue 12" release.

Label founder DJ Scientist tells the story of how the tracks were uncovered:

"Several years ago, while researching the Crea label-after we had already licensed 'You're Not The One For Me' by Peter Patzer-I also wanted to find out more about another band on the label: Nuages, who had released the stunning jazz-funk/fusion album Cumulus.

Interestingly, a Discogs user had uploaded a hand written promo letter from one of the band members along with the LP. In it, drummer Mike Bach mentioned plans for a second album, as well as a single featuring a 'coloured singer'-which caught my attention. (A note on language: the original letter from 1985 uses the term 'coloured.' We've chosen to quote it directly as a historical document, but want to be clear that this reflects the terminology of the era and not language we would use today.)

Digging deeper, more information was found on Bach's own website, where a project called 'High Score' was mentioned. I immediately got in touch and asked if the recordings from that project still existed. Unfortunately, Bach couldn't locate any of the material at the time.

Years passed before we reconnected, when we featured 'Strange Weekend' by Nuages on our recent yacht rock compilation. I still had the Highscore project in mind and asked again. Once more, Mike had to deny-but he made another effort and reached out to former collaborators. A few weeks later, guitarist and composer Hermann Behrens discovered cassette tapes containing tracks from the Highscore project. I couldn't wait to hear them…"

To go back a bit: Nuages were a jazz-rock band from Bremerhaven, originally formed by guitarist Joachim "Fussy" Fuß in 1982. The lineup included Mike Bach (drums and percussion), Klaus Hinners (bass), and Frank Fischer (keyboards). In 1984, John Dillard, a U.S. GI stationed in Germany, joined Nuages for several live performances as a soul singer.
Around 1985/1986, Dillard and Bach then teamed up with Hermann Behrens with a new focus on electro funk and disco: Highscore was born.

When the three demo recordings were finally sent to us, they immediately blew us away. Breakin' Out stood out as an incredible electro-funk boogie gem-exactly what we had been looking for. What's more, it didn't sound like a rough demo at all, Breakin Out was a well-arranged and almost perfectly recorded track, driven by fresh, vibrant synths, drum machines and guitar. The cassette mix wasn't entirely final, but the remaining details could be refined during mastering.

The B-side, Girl So Fine, impressed just as much-equally strong and just as captivating as the A-side. Our reaction was immediate: this had to be released without delay!

Most importantly, there are a few more recordings from Highscore. However, these only exist as multi-track studio reels, which currently cannot be transferred. In the best case, more material from the band may surface soon-hopefully without another long wait.

The 12" release Breakin' Out / Girl So Fine" comes with a newly designed picture sleeve, featuring an original photo of the band members, including background singer Ruben Hopkins who does not appear on these two recordings.

The vinyl edition is limited to 400 copies.

CusCus Limited drops its debut with a four-way tracker on blue wax. Mark Jackus and Marcus Sur lay down the blueprint; G-Man & Gez Varley, D.Diggler, and Soodmann each tear it apart in their own image. Dub-soaked atmospheres collide with deep tech house grooves, a statement of intent pressed on 140g blue vinyl.

“One foot out the door, another in the otherworld…”
So begins Hannah Lew’s debut, self-titled solo record, soaked in imperious, wide-eyed pop songwriting and a girl-group/post punk aesthetic that belies the artist’s history in the U.S. underground. A towering, hook-laden album, it’s infused with an optimism and surrealism that conversely deals with the times we find ourselves in.

Recorded at home in Richmond, CA and in The Best House studio with Maryam Qudus in Oakland CA, with the assistance of a crack team of West Coast musicians, this album sees Hannah Lew stepping out from behind the legacy of her two groups Grass Widow and Cold Beat. While musically bearing similarities with her previous work, “Hannah Lew” is a bold leap into direct pop territory, making ample use of a vocal style that teases out the inherent melancholy in her melodies. Mastered by Sarah Register, each song is a perfectly honed nugget that frequently pulls the heart in two directions at once.

Themes of change, breaking up, shattering old ways of being are shot through the record. For the front cover, a photograph of the artist’s face was printed, ripped up and re-assembled, resembling the creative process embarked upon by Lew for her first “solo” material. The album feels instinctual, almost dream-like in its assemblage of sweeping synths and pulsating, propulsive drum machine beat patterns with Lew’s vocal performances sensitive and caressing over the top. Increasingly relying on the subconscious and dreams to guide her creative process, Hannah Lew frequently abandons literal interpretations or linear narratives, the songs seeming to exist in a swooning, effortless flow-state while remaining emotionally hard hitting.

On an album where every song could be a single, there are kaleidoscopic shades and varying emotional tones in abundance. First single Another Twilight is carried along a pumping, Italo-disco-style 4/4 beat and mono-synth bass line, the low end pulling at the heart and body. Lew’s vocal melody teases the track before swan-diving into a gorgeous chorus as she sings “it’s all over baby and I don’t mind… in decline, I take my time…” The album is suffused with moments like this. On slow builder Damaged Melody, an arpeggiated synth elongates the verse before a cascading synth showers down melodic glitter. The stunning Replica uses dual swirling synth patterns before a driving, synthpop chorus for the ages carries Hannah Lew’s vocal into the stereo field, sailing in on a high register singed with the embers of a break up.

In a departure from previous groups, her solo songs are guided by dreams and free association inspired by Dada and the Surrealist movement and sculpted afterwards. As such, the songs reveal themselves on repeated listens, revealing traces of heartbreak inspired by both personal and global elements - Hannah Lew regards the album “a wartime album.” On Move In Silence, Lew intones “there’s a war outside, just out of view,” revealing the dichotomy at play throughout. With the songs evolving naturally and in a flow state, the pressures and sadnesses of the modern age bleed through, mixed in with Lew’s inherent love, sensitivity and fractured-but-intact optimism. On the swooning, sublime Sunday layers of Numanoid synths open up for the commanding vocal performance pontificating on grief, love, pain as she “feels the ache on Sunday…” As the chorus builds and Lew’s call-and-response vocal adds to the emotional tension, it almost feels like too much to take.

Elsewhere, there are echoes of Hannah Lew’s previous work. On Time Wasted a bass guitar comes in with a heavy, punk attack before the synths and vocal harmonies reminiscent of later Cold Beat elevate everything. The glassy, sweetly resigned closer The Clock sounds like so classic it could be cover, a sweetened Jesus & Mary Chain tune perhaps, before it erupts into volcanic chorus that could only come from Hannah Lew in 2026.

This compilation album JOIA Presents Breakout is more than just a collection of tracks, it is a celebration of the signature sound of the DJs who later came together to form the Swedish House Mafia, who were on the brink of their global breakthrough. at the beginning of this millennium.

The compilation features tracks and remixes by Eric Prydz, Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello, Axwell, and John Dahlbäck and comes as a Limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on light blue marble vinyl.

SOLAH steps back onto the scene with her second studio album Forever, set for release on 5th June 2026.

Primarily recognised for her soulful melodies, unmistakable voice and down-to-earth artist persona, Forever holds steady onto these qualities, yet finds freedom in straying from expectations. Atmospheric and all-encompassing, the album's list of collaborators spans beyond the UK to the Netherlands, Tokyo, Sao Paulo and beyond - a reminder of drum & bass' global collective identity, and testament to the musical connections and friends in the industry that she has made over the years, since her first album King. 2x12" Gatefold Vinyl - SOLAH's Forever LP is available on sleek double vinyl packaged in a gatefold sleeve, featuring full album tracklist, lyrics and bespoke imagery.

Emotional Rescue returns after a much-needed year hiatus, refreshed and ready, as it moves into its 15th year, to further explore the environs of oft-forgotten musical secrets and present them to new heads and minds.

To celebrate, the label looks back to one of its favourite collaborations, the music of French ‘Ethno-Industrialists’ Vox Populi! in presenting a truly unique EP of “In Dub”, inspired remixes by 4 fellow Paris based artists of today in Full Circle, Froid Dub, Krikor and Shelter.

“In Dub” takes a selection of songs from the series of albums reissued or compiled on Emotional Rescue and sister label, Platform 23, and gives the Master tapes to this talented ensemble to offer their own, unique dub reworks. The project explores the on-going advances in technology offered, mixed with pure talent and a respectful homage.

Formed by Axel Kyrou and including wife Mitra, as well as long-term music and art partners Pierre Jolivet aka Pacific 231 and Francis Lafont aka FR6 Man, they forged a path from obscure, drum and drum-based cassette releases on to fully realized albums and compilations on their now cult Vox Man Records.

Alexis Le Tan and Joakim’s Full Circle project starts, with their electronic dub remake of Soleyman Dub from the ‘Alternatif Réalisme’ compilation (ERC079). With releases on Good Morning Tapes, Offen and their own “Released” label, their plaudits as master diggers and producers of dubby tripped-out inspired electronics – releasing slowed Trance some 10 years before anyone else – is inspired. Tuning in and turning on the original dub into a mantra style slow-breaks (Digi)dub is the perfect experimental flavour.

Jube Man is next, a twisted, psychedelic dub out by rising stars Froid Dub. The stand-out from the ‘Magiques Creations’ release (ERC052), an album that explored Vox Populi’s furtive post-industrial period of 1984 to 1988, Jube Man was the perfect selection by the duo of François Marché and Stéphane Bodin.

Froid Dub have steadily developed their “cold” Digidub style to acclaim –

releasing a steady flow of dub inspired electronics on their own label Delodio, as well as recently appearing on sister label Emotional Response’s 10th year anniversary collection, ‘All Trades’. Their haunting, shuffling and murky acid / piano dub, with the drifting “Space Echoing” of Mitra’s vocals from the live desk mix, creates a ghostly version to effect.

Next, master mixer, producer and engineer Krikor serves a steppers remake with his “OverDub” of Zen-Dub. With a career that spans releases on Tigersushi, LIES and Soul Jazz, his sound has developed from Electro, House and Techno, to Acid, Bleep, Dancehall, Dub and touches of Gabba.

Taken from Vox Populi!’s master-opus Aither (ERC030), the first of our reissues dating back to 2016, Zen-Dub’s pacey, lo-fi dub experience is transformed and overdubbed into an incessant sound system throb, a true bass quaking “steppa”.

To close, Micro Climax is put through Shelter’s increasing avant dub exposition. Appearing on the likes of Growing Bin, Emotional Response and his own Protopost, as well for – and being in-house designer – on the much-missed Séance Centre, Alan Briand aka Shelter productions have developed from Balearic, Edits and House to explore Avant, Raga and live Dub productions.

Appearing on the recent ‘Ethniques Pyschedeliques’ compilation on Platform 23 (PLA032), in original form Micro Climax is a sprawling 10-minute ethno-dub of whispered vocals, drone and sub bass. Shelter strips it back, keeping background effects, adding live bass and percussion to create a wonky, slow, shuffling ska-lite excursion to complete a true “In Dub”.

INGERABLE, which means “inedible” or “unpalatable” in French, was the adjective a record label used to describe Cathy Claret when she showed them the song inspired by a Caló poem that is now part of our upcoming release, “Por el Chiben.” The piece was born in 1987 when the artist was living in Can Tunis (Barcelona), inspired by a poem she heard from Uncle Bastián. Years later, when recording her first album, she included this composition, but the artist was censored for not fitting commercial standards. Now, Alhaja Records revives it in an album with two versions: a flamenco one, featuring Emilio Caracafé on guitar, and an electronic one, produced by Wará.

2026 Repress

NC4K, based in Kyoto, presents the third installment of their vinyl-only series. This four-track EP features House and Breakbeats tracks exclusively produced by artists residing in the Kansai region.

Expect raw, impactful drums and skillful sample manipulation designed to deliver a jolt of energy to the dance floor.

*repress*

The prolific Lord Of The Isles (aka Scotland's Neil McDonald) has had a string of stunning 12's over the past few years on labels such as Permanent Vacation, Unthank, Shevchenko, Mule and of course his four track 'Year Of The City EP' on Phonica, which was widely acclaimed upon its release in 2012.

This time LOTI presents two long-form tracks, each a mini-masterpiece in itself. The 10 minute plus 'Greane' bursts into life after an intro of kicks and white noise hi-hats. It continues to slowly build, with pitch-bent synth lines and a pulsing bass-line making way for a melacholic shift in mood. Truly original stuff!

On the flip, a swirl of synthetic strings introduces 'Gigha', in a manner that brings to mind Rhythm
Is Rhythm's legendary 'Kao-Tic Harmony', before the drums and infectious acid-line join in. Over the 8 minutes they continue to interweave and play off each other to dazzling effect.

Artwork by Jack Featherstone, the designer of a number of sleeves for Border Community (including the highly praised campaign behind James Holden's 'The Inheritors', its singles and live visuals), Electric Minds, Warm and of course, Phonica.

This has been a very personal project and a mammoth undertaking for us folks here PACE HQ: 12 tracks unearthed from the cult Scottish figure’s completely overlooked back catalogue. Collected archive material from the past 25 years, originally composed as an OST for the feature length film The Flesher (1992) which was also written, shot and directed by Rae. No copies remain. Deep cuts that span G-funk, hip-hop, house, synth-pop, electro, dub, downtempo, funk/soul, R’n’B with appearances from Rae’s heavyweight list of frequent collaborators… Bernie Worrell, Adrian Sherwood and Jimmy Douglass.

"In 1991, the Scottish Rugby Union & the Royal Bank of Scotland, commissioned me tae make the world's first Scotland World Cup music video... they didn’t pay me so I fought back. It took 18 years tae win, and I nearly lost everything. I turned to audio visual art: under the pseudonym Jock Pleasure - I wrote and directed a feature length film called The Flesher as well as creating 100s of full length DVDs and tracks” (Jesse Rae).

One man took on the banks and won, but it took its toll and in this totemic corpus of work Jesse Rae counts the cost. The Flesher is art as pure defiance: “this stuff is very dark and deep, it is such a vast body o’ work, but when I won my battle against the bank, I secretly returned tae Hodge Close (in the Scottish borders) and dropped the entire work sealed in stone intae the deep deep murky depths of that water, where it has remained since 2009. There are no mair copies."

What we have here then is the salvaged remains. A hopeful dunt of Scottish erotica that gets you right in the pits.

Splice DJ Screw with Dean Blunt, Moodymann, Prince, Cocteau Twins, MF DOOM, Luther Van fuckin’ Dross, Barry fuckin’ White; run that through the B-movie videotape static meets Harmony Korine, Les Blank & early Grand Theft Auto. Empty boulevards. Small-town strip joints. Late-night dial-up. Sacrifice and solace. Outside of the OST, there’s a cast of forgotten characters: primary school kids making house jams, teenage popstars from the Scottish Borders, and the rhapsodic Ayrshire soprano NIKA laying down haunting vocals in Miami.

Celebrated as a cult figure in the USA, Jesse’s work has never fully had the appreciation it deserves at home. Not really. Aye, we know Inside Out and The Thistle. But he’s too easily fobbed off as an eccentric outsider: a helmet-wearing, claymore-wielding gimmick. But do we really know the extent of what this man has done - and gone through - for the sake of art?

FELT wade deeper into the murky waters of contemporary Scandinavian electroacoustic music following the recent reissue of Johan Wieth’s Health & Safety project on sub-label LEFT and established gems from the likes of Civilistjävel!

Gintė Preisaitė, a Lithuanian artist and graduate of Copenhagen’s Rhythmic Music Conservatory, reveals her first solo release under her own name, following a collaborative effort with Toshimaru Nakamura in 2025 and a number of cassettes as “Baraboro”. The deliberately genre-blurring sound Preisaitė deploys works with composed pop vignettes, sustained drones, FX manipulations and guttural bursts of noise. Sparse piano movements, sample-laden psychedelia and moments of big beat/trip-hop rhythms gel with crowd noise, close mic’d intimacy and experimental percussion with a focus on instrumental timbres and extended techniques.

With a background in composing for large ensembles, Preisaitė's multi-instrumental approach is evident across the eight tracks, moments of dense concrète-style sound collages anchored by the human voice never being far away. She laments on fantasy, absurdity and relationships as a cast of players contribute string, brass, accordion, and guitar parts. Passages move from delicate acoustic folk motifs through to wide-eyed, cut-and-paste glitch electronics and spectral melodic riffs, making the album an unorthodox and welcome addition to Denmark's current world-class music scene.

An ode to a very good girl, Luna. It is my hope this record is soothing and trippy because it is trippy how soothing she is to me ºo∞Oº

Following the massive, multi-platinum success of the global hit "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" and his breakout contributions to Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER, Shaboozey returns with his most ambitious work to date: the new concept album, The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales. Building on the genre-bending foundation of Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going, this project cements Shaboozey’s status as a pioneer of New Americana through a cinematic outlaw revenge story with a tragic love at its center.

The narrative follows Cherie Lee, who, after witnessing her sheriff father’s murder by the Bootcut Boys, abandons the badge to hunt the gang down one by one. In the heat of her vengeance, she falls for an outlaw—not the killer, but a man guilty by association. While he seeks redemption through her love and she seeks a cure for her darkness, both find that violence is not so easily escaped. When her lover kills the real murderer in her name, he proves that bloodlust doesn’t end; it only evolves. In a devastating final act, Cherie chooses her vendetta over her heart, killing the man who loves her most and fully becoming the very monster she set out to destroy. Gritty, soulful, and narratively daring, The Outlaw Cherie Lee is a bold evolution from one of music's most dominant current forces.

Curió Curió came to flight by chance. Two artists, Rio-born, Austria-based singer and actress Luiza Monteiro and German producer Dustin Braun, had separately reached a fork in their journeys. An opportune encounter soon blossomed into an uplifting, heartfelt Brazilian MPB-groove project shaped by psychedelic disco and studio experimentation. In their own words Curió Curió’s sonic vision “is not straight disco, not straight samba, not strictly old-school but inspired by all of them, creating something contemporary but still nostalgic”.

A modern fusion influenced as much by Gal Costa and Jorge Ben Jor as Say She She and Bala Desejo, their sound deftly plots a course all of its own. A celebration of freedom, movement, love and life, intertwined with introspective moments of reflection. Treating tradition as something alive, migratory and unresolved, the album is not simply bound by a shared love of Brazilian music, but by a deeper question that runs through every track; where does one belong when home becomes plural? As a Brazilian living in Europe, Luiza's lyrics explore themes of identity, culture, and existence. The tracks move between cities and emotional registers without settling, tracing a sense of identity that shifts rather than resolves. Songs like ‘Amor Doente’ and ‘Mar sem Dar Pé’ circle around relationships that resist clarity, while ‘Menina Passarinho’ captures the fear and necessity of committing to music as a path. For Luiza, deepening her commitment to music alongside years in theatre was both inevitable and difficult. Braun’s production follows a similar logic. Initial ideas were often built without obvious reference points, only later incorporating rhythmic and vocal elements that hint at Brazil without reproducing it. Analogue techniques, tape, ribbon microphones and live ensemble recording bring a tactile quality that reflects the duo’s interest in process as much as outcome. Highlights include ‘Bem Querer’, built on an authentic samba street vibe with a super-catchy sing-along chorus, and ‘Vem pra Casa’ with its cosmic-tinged Brazilian boogie flavour. The album closes with ‘A Cor do Meu Sonho’, a quiet act of insistence. A refusal to shrink in unfamiliar environments, and a belief in the strength of difference. It is less a conclusion than a continuation, leaving the central question open. “I started to understand that I can belong to many places at once”, Luiza reflects. “And that can be something to embrace”. Lyrics from the song ‘Raiz’ translate in English to “I value a burning sun and the cold in the air. Constant change is my companion”. With Curió Curió, that idea is lived through sound, story and collaboration. A debut that feels both searching and assured, grounded in heritage yet shaped by distance.

Synaptic Cliffs proudly welcomes Annie Hall for her label debut. With the Future Sports EP, she once again expands the boundaries between machine funk, speculative sound design, and forward-thinking club music. Delivering her signature fusion of IDM, electro, fractured breakbeats and experimental electronics, she sculpts a metallic, high-definition vision that feels as though it has been transmitted directly from centuries ahead.

Future Sports imagines the sonic landscape of sport in the year 3024. In a future where society has paradoxically stripped itself back to the essentials, aesthetics have returned to the elegance and restraint of the 18th and 19th centuries. Amid this cultural shift, fencing has emerged as the defining global sport, elevated from historical discipline to mass obsession.

Throughout the EP, the sounds of these future arenas become musical raw material: the sharp clash of advanced foils, the resonant impact of engineered protective gear, the tension of ritualized competition, and fragments of other, unnamed sports from a distant age. Annie Hall transforms these imagined athletic acoustics into intricate rhythmic structures and futuristic melodies, allowing the machinery and choreography of competition to shape the record's sonic identity.

The result is a vivid soundtrack to a world yet to come - precise, kinetic, and unmistakably futuristic, where sport, technology and sound merge into a singular vision. Future Sports is both a speculative narrative and a club-ready statement from one of electronic music's most distinctive voices.

As a special bonus, the EP features an animated picture label. When played at 45 RPM and viewed under a stroboscopic light operating at 9 Hz, the artwork comes alive, revealing a hidden motion sequence. Blurring the boundaries between sound, design and optical illusion, this kinetic visual layer extends the EP's futuristic narrative into the physical realm, transforming the record itself into an artifact from the year 3024.

The NE21 stands as one of the most mysterious and elusive projects within the contemporary post-punk and minimal wave landscape. With only two previous releases—through Domestica and She Lost Kontrol—the project has already secured an unquestionable place among the essential names of the genre. After five years of complete silence on the release front, “No Zone” marks their long- awaited return. The record expands the project’s unmistakable universe: cold synth lines, suspended atmospheres, hypnotic rhythms, and a haunting sense of isolation that moves between Trisomie 21 minimal wave austerity and Neon’s emotionally charged post-punk tension, aligned with other Italian wave visionaries such as DsorDNE while connecting with newer tendencies in electronic krautrock and proto-experimental music. Everything in “No Zone” feels deliberate and restrained, unfolding a ghostly elegance, balancing shadowy electronics with sharp melodic instinct. With “No Zone”, The NE21 not only return—they reaffirm their singular position as one of the most distinctive and enigmatic voices operating in the darker edges of underground electronic music. Presented in ONE-OFF truly limited edition of 300 copies lacquered pressed on 180 gr. high quality solid BLACK vinyl. All tracks have been specially remastered and mastered for vinyl by Daniel Hallhuber at Young and Cold Studios (Germany).

Key To World Peace is the third release by Prophetic Justice Ministry - aka Australian musician Sam Perry. An atmospheric, cinematic album that belies a striking pop songwriting nous at its core, its conductor Prophetic Justice Ministry is at the centre of a new wave of creative, rule-bending Melbourne artists. Romantic, smudged and hazy, Perry emerges from behind a wall of
half-light with a clutch of earworms and affecting emotions.

Recorded in home studios in Belgrade (Serbia), Christchurch (New Zealand) and Melbourne (Australia) over the course of three years, Key To World Peace offers a dichotomy in approach. Shifting on a dime between ambient, filmic washes of sound and more traditional song structures, the approach feels natural, casually acid-tipped and emotionally revealing. While Perry’s
distinctive keys and production melding with melody is evidenced in Melbourne group Who Cares?, as Prophetic Justice Ministry there’s a heightened sense of mystery and space being used.

Swirling in a psychedelic fog with dry iced chords falling down like melting stars, the album pulses with an ominous, distorted intro that sculpts air into blocks of sound before Psyop offers a glimpse through the gloom at the artist navigating through crushed, shoe-gazing chords, singing a consolation into an abandoned building. Side A’s more abstract tone veers from industrial tracks (T-A) to pastoral, impressionistic pieces (Trance) before album highlight Life’s A Party showcases the effortless, classic songwriting lurking in Prophetic Justice Ministry. Built on the tension between the upbeat lyrics and suppressed, rich delivery, the song lopes on an alluring loop with acoustic guitars and Perry’s voice walking a tightrope between irony and sincerity. The song blooms into a bright burst of light, almost inducing synesthesia in the listener and reminding a little of The Beta Band’s most outre and catchy moments.

Opening Side B, Naked Shine’s scintillating guitar is punctuated by a sub bass swell that offsets the yearning vocal performance. With palpable sensitivity the song is shepherded into short, atmospheric passages before Love Drum’s direct delivery: Perry’s vocal and guitar, dancing over a hint of distortion feels like Syd Barrett at his most casually brilliant. Carrying on the tradition of a single cover on every Prophetic Justice Ministry release, here Lana Del Rey’s Mariner’s Apartment Complex is given a stripped back but faithful treatment. With a sound that feels like a hushed, Chris Isaak classic it’s testament to Perry’s own compositions that the cover doesn’t outshine the rest of the album. Album closer and single Spirit House Party combines a classic chord progression with Perry’s double-tracked vocal into a murky but brilliantly catchy chorus. While nowhere near as lush in its production, there’s something in the atmosphere of Prophetic Justice Ministry’s vocal sitting in the mix just so that reminds us of The Electric Prunes’ Holy Are You-era work with David Axelrod.
Key To World Peace flits between displaying a spectrum of blurred emotional resonance in its instrumental passages and vulnerability in the shape of raw, melodic songwriting. With his first release outside of Australia and vinyl debut, Sam Perry’s Prophetic Justice Ministry is a beguiling dance in and out shadows.

LAURA GREENE, from Cleveland, Ohio, has enjoyed a long and successful career in the entertainment industry. She started out as stage actress before becoming a singer in the lucrative TV and radio jingle business. She has also modelled for many press campaigns and regularly appeared on TV chat shows. In 1968 she had a role in the film For Love Of Ivy with Sidney Poitier and a year later co-starred in the satire Putney Swope directed by Robert Downey Sr. It seems fitting that her 1967 non-hit 'Moonlight Music And You' finally found commercial success in 2003 when featured on a KFC TV advert. PEGGY MARCH was born Margaret Annemarie Battavio in 1948 and, although having a prolific recording career, is rememberred mainly for her million-selling 'I Will Follow Him'. Here we feature her Northern Soul waxing for RCA in 1968 that packed the dance floor at Wigan Casino a decade later!

Building on the massive success of SR Sampler V1 and V2, which captivated Deep House lovers across the scene, SculpturedRecords proudly presents SR Sampler V3 EP — a soulful and deeply immersive compilation bringing together some of South Africa’s finest rising and established talents.
Featuring powerful contributions from MacZito Feat. LukaMusic, Vhuvii, Guztav, Young Molz & Ghost, and RoneeDeep, Sampler V3 delivers a rich blend of deep grooves, emotive melodies, and timeless house rhythms. Carefully curated with a polished and well-rounded sound, this EP showcases the unique artistry and sonic identity that continues to define the SculpturedRecords movement.

The Temptations Get High on Psychedelic Soul: Cloud Nine Soars with Ambitious Arrangements and Production, Features Standout Vocal Performances and Instrumentation by the Funk Brothers

The Temptations’ Cloud Nine announced that Motown — and “The Sound of Young America” — would never be the same. Influenced by the emergence of cutting-edge rock and pop currents, as well as increasing sociopolitical turmoil, the album broke down barriers between rock, psychedelia, and soul while heralding the arrival of visionary arrangements and production techniques. Bookended by traditional R&B numbers, the 1969 record sent the Temptations in bold new directions and signaled the advent of psychedelic soul.

Sourced from the original master tapes, strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 45PM 2LP set presents Cloud Nine in audiophile sound for the first time on a domestic pressing. This collectible reissue bestows Norman Whitfield’s extraordinary production with the grand-scale dynamics, natural tonality, expansive openness, and low-end weight it deserves. The timbre of each of the five members’ voices is readily identifiable — even within the group harmonies — bestowing a realism never experienced outside the recording studio.

Making its debut on 45RPM, the album further benefits from the wide groove space by playing with greater separation and more realistic presence than prior editions. Everything from the brassiness of the horns to the dry snap of the snare comes across with reference-grade clarity and positioning. And since Motown’s renowned Funk Brothers backing band plays on many of the cuts, you’ll want to savor every note. The imaging, soundstaging, and organic bloom-and-decay of the notes make that possible.

Amid Cloud Nine, the instrumentation and architecture stand out as much as any element. Never before had a Motown album contained such ambitious patterns and complex passages. Seemingly conscientious of the departure from their past methods, the Temptations and Whitfield bunched together the tracks that mark a deep dive into psychedelic territory and counterbalance them with seven sterling soul cuts that dovetail with Motown tradition drenched with heartfelt vocals, swelling strings, and finger-snapping beats.

On the original 33RPM release, traditional Motown soul — laden with heartfelt vocals, swelling strings, and finger-snapping beats — occupies Side Two. These songs reveal an ensemble still very much on top of delivering pristine pop-soul material graced with romantic sweetness, persuasive insistent, and soaring highs. Re-energized after the departure of lead singer David Ruffin, who was fired for a variety of reasons in June 1968, the Temptations seamlessly meld with his replacement, Dennis Edwards, on one melodic gem after another.

The collective tackles five songs co-written by the legendary Motown team of Barrett Strong and Whitfield. Not the least of which are the smooth, shuffling “Why Did She Have to Leave Me (Why Did She Have to Go)” and deceptively simple, horn-spiked “Gonna Keep on Tryin’ till I Win Your Love.” On these tracks, as well as on a lush rendition of the ballad “Love Is a Hurtin’ Thing” and pleading, tender send-up of the Gerry Goffin-Carole King classic “Hey Girl,” Edwards and Paul Williams take turns on the lead with the estimable Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams providing backing support.

All five vocalists trade-off leads on the simmering title track, a groundbreaking composition shot through with wah-wah-pedal effects, liquid funk, deep bass lines, Cuban percussion, saturated reverb, and gang choruses. Whitfield mines each member’s natural vocal range with spectacular results, keeps time with cymbals, and channels both the heated temperatures and escapist desires of a society embroiled in war, conflict, and experimental drugs.

Amazingly, the Temptations top themselves on the similarly revealing “Run Away Child, Running Wild.” Nearly 10 minutes in length, the song explodes R&B parameters and harbors a cinematic scope. Urgent pianos, distorted guitars, stripped-down percussion, steamy Hammond organs, minimal bass motifs, five distinct voices narrating the tale of a boy who fled home and now finds himself amid the scary, unforgiving external world: They combine to give the urgent tune a walls-closing-in atmosphere where fear and desperation reign. Bolstered by an extended instrumental section that precedes a climactic return of the singers’ voices, “Run Away Child, Running Wild” equaled the success of the record’s title track, with both reaching No. 6 on the pop charts.

Looking back on her career in the early 90s, Stevie Nicks described the first track of Rock a Little as “the most exciting song that I had ever heard.” This coming from a superstar who was already closely affiliated with several bajillion-selling Fleetwood Mac albums — to say nothing of her own benchmark solo debut. Her remarks attest to the enthusiasm and effort she invested in her third record, a 1985 work that quickly furthered Nicks’ profile and cemented itself as a piece of 80s pop lore.

Mastered at MoFi’s California studio, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, strictly limited to 4,000 numbered copies, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents Rock a Little in audiophile sound for its 40th anniversary. Helmed by a cadre of producers and engineers, and recorded for a reported one million dollars, the platinum-certified album teems with a head-spinning array of colors, tones, dreamscapes, and accents. This reference-grade reissue marks the first time they are all brought to light and conveyed with proper balance, dimensionality, and positioning.

Though Rock a Little doubtlessly has period characteristics of a mid-80s LP, Nicks and company spare no expense when it comes to distinguishing the music with expansive sonics distinguished with lush melodies, high-tech percussion, echoing vocals, sampled keyboards, and layers of sophisticated accents. The degrees of spaciousness, headroom, and dynamics are nothing less than inspiring, while the newly enhanced detail, texture, and clarity make the songs sing like never before. As for Nicks’ voice? Wait ’til you experience the transparency and depth.

Those advantages extend, of course, to the aforementioned “I Can’t Wait,” a statement-making opener shot through with modulating synthesizers, splashy drums, metallic guitars, and serious drama. Holed up in a massive studio, Nicks required just one take to nail her part, which she called “magic and simply not able to beat.” The singer-songwriter also distilled the reverberating emotional essence of the Top 20 tune, stating “when I hear it on the radio, this incredible feeling comes over me, like something really incredible is about to happen.”

The same can be said for nearly all of Rock a Little. Crafted by the likes of Songwriters Hall of Fame multi-instrumentalist/producer Rick Nowels, Heartbreakers organist Benmont Tench, bassist Bob Glaub, jack-of-all-trades Greg Phillinganes, and session-pro guitarists Waddy Watchel, Les Dudek, and Danny Kortchmar — along with another two dozen or so participants — the record spills with diverse ideas, shapes, and moods. Everything is in the right place, as evidenced by the swirling glide and sensual undertow of the slightly funky title track to the snapping rhythmic pace and big hooks of “Imperial Hotel,” one of Nicks’ standout moments.

“What was it she wanted?” Nicks queries on “No Spoken Word,” continuing a theme of contemplation that runs through the narratives. Nicks never lands on a definite answer, but hearing her explore loneliness, love, and the secrets we keep to ourselves proves continuously rewarding. Take her passionate performance on a cover of Chas Sanford’s “Talk to Me,” a Top 5 smash furthered by tasteful saxophone lines and understated folk elements. Immersive yourself in the grand sonic corridors of “If I Were You,” laden with Nicks’ signature mysticism.

Moreover, surrender to the gravitas of the closing “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You,” a piano ballad composed about the death of Joe Walsh’s three-year-old daughter. As Nicks asserts earlier on the album, she sings for things money can’t buy.

So, rock a little, yes, but dare to feel even more.

Carly Simon’s quietly intense sophomore album comes across like an assertive notice nailed to a telephone pole for all to see. Bold, personal, and autobiographical, Anticipation announces the arrival of an artist who won’t back down. While Simon stands her ground on her eponymous debut, she elevates her passion and persona to heightened levels throughout this gold-certified record, dealing in private matters related to love, relationships, and desire. At times, Simon is nothing short of primal. She reflects on the difficulties of retaining your own identity while also giving yourself to a partner. Simon’s connection to her folk roots would never be stronger.

Sourced from the original master tapes, strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 45RPM 2LP set of Anticipation lays bare the rich tapestries afforded by the spare blend of soft guitars, mellow orchestration, and dreamy melodies. Audiophiles and record collectors, take note: This is the first time Anticipation has been available on 45RPM. The wider grooves and dead-quiet surfaces prove extremely rewarding.

The rhythmic framework anchored by session pro Andy Newmark’s drumming sounds dynamic and balanced, with songs benefiting from a focused midrange and taut low-end. Simon’s attachment to and investment in each lyric is made evident by way of the intimate, hushed atmospherics and expansive responsiveness. And just as Simon’s vocals feel more transparent and direct, so, too, do the supporting choral arrangements.

Released before the singer-songwriter movement reached full bloom, Anticipation remains remarkable for the high-quality songwriting and Simon’s gutsy stance. The album cover — depicting the vocalist holding the gates at Queen Mary’s Garden in Regent’s Park and seemingly defying anyone to take her on — serves as a metaphor for the content within.

Known for having relationships with high-profile partners, Simon was heavily involved with Cat Stevens leading up to the recording of Anticipation. She draws from her experiences to craft tunes that resonate because of their honesty, realism, and strength. Few of those moments are better known than the Top 20 title track, which Simon composed in just 15 minutes as she waited for Stevens to pick her up for a date. Imbued with the nervousness, tension, and excitement that accompany the moments when a romance could go either way, the Grammy-nominated song presages the feminist-minded vulnerability and burning longing that informs a majority of the record.

On the soulful “Legend in Your Own Time,” also inspired by Stevens, Simon harnesses yearning as a conduit to feel-good paradise. Deemed by Rolling Stone an “absolute clincher, an awesome description of the psychic ravages of gone-nuts, know-nothing love,” her cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “I’ve Got to Have You” moans with no-holds-barred desire and breathtaking sensuality.

For all the wanting Simon pursues on Anticipation, her way of staying in control — vocally and personally — make the record a courageous statement of contemporary femininity. For further evidence, look to the bossa nova of “Summer’s Coming Around Again,” somber “Share the End,” soothing “Three Days,” and sincere “Julie Through the Glass,” a tribute to her young niece.

Simon would achieve international fame with her next album, No Secrets. Yet as this definitive reissue shows, Anticipation suggests the rest of the world was just a little late catching up to her.

Polish rapper Wiktor Zapala aka Abel has been laying down albums and EPs for 20 odd years and now features on a new 7" with apparent production debutants Sheak and RareMatthew for Milkshake Mondays. He takes care of the A-side with 'Livin' Fast', a low slung and unhurried jam with elastic bass stretched between lazy, slouchy beats with storytelling and classic-era bars unfolding up top. Sheak/RareMatthew completely flip the script on the B-side with 'La Murga,' a Latin-flavoured sound with Spanish vocals over a live instrumental topped with horns and carnival atmospheres. Two equally effective tunes.

Originally released in 1968, James Taylor is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor. This UK edition reissue by Endless Happiness brings back the album's rich blend of folk and rock influences, showcasing Taylor's introspective songwriting and soothing vocals. The album includes notable tracks such as "Carolina in My Mind" and "Something in the Way She Moves," which have become staples in Taylor's repertoire.

Designed for her 5 Hour extended sets and refined on dancefloors worldwide, "Can't Stop Loving You" - out today on slash - captures KI/KI's signature nostalgia-meets-future sound. Self-written and produced, it's an emotive trance burner built for peak time joy, unity and release, a sound that has defined her rise across global rave culture.

"Can't Stop Loving You" has become the closing moment in KI/KI's 2025 sets. From her Radio One Essential Mix, her two 5 Hours at the Woolstore, Melbourne - the only artist to ever do two back-to-back - to her AMF headline set to 40,000 fans at the Johan Cruijff ArenA! "Can't Stop Loving You" has been the emotional closer all year long.

On the track KI/KI says:
I wrote this track during the biggest heartbreak of my life. Back then I was working on music for my liveshow, and needed a track to close the show with. Can't stop loving you was the result.
Every note, every sound, every vocal helped me through how I was feeling and listening back now reminds me that eventually things will be okay again. The song evolves from an emotional track to an optimistic 172bpm banger and this perfectly describes my process - and maybe the story of almost every heartbreak?
This record is living proof to me that music can be healing. I hope it does the same for you

In just a few years, KI/KI has become one of the most exciting and influential voices in electronic music. She's sold out 20,000-capacity shows and graced the cover of DJ Mag. In 2026, she'll headline London, Dublin, Belfast, Paris, LA and NYC - all selling out in minutes.

With new music coming and her fanbase surging, "Can't Stop Loving You" now closes both her sets and her year - the emotional full stop on 2025 before an even bigger 2026.

Curió Curió came to flight by chance. Two artists, Rio-born, Austria-based singer and actress Luiza Monteiro and German producer Dustin Braun, had separately reached a fork in their journeys. An opportune encounter soon blossomed into an uplifting, heartfelt Brazilian MPB-groove project shaped by psychedelic disco and studio experimentation. In their own words Curió Curió’s sonic vision “is not straight disco, not straight samba, not strictly old-school but inspired by all of them, creating something contemporary but still nostalgic”.

A modern fusion influenced as much by Gal Costa and Jorge Ben Jor as Say She She and Bala Desejo, their sound deftly plots a course all of its own. A celebration of freedom, movement, love and life, intertwined with introspective moments of reflection. Treating tradition as something alive, migratory and unresolved, the album is not simply bound by a shared love of Brazilian music, but by a deeper question that runs through every track; where does one belong when home becomes plural? As a Brazilian living in Europe, Luiza's lyrics explore themes of identity, culture, and existence. The tracks move between cities and emotional registers without settling, tracing a sense of identity that shifts rather than resolves. Songs like ‘Amor Doente’ and ‘Mar sem Dar Pé’ circle around relationships that resist clarity, while ‘Menina Passarinho’ captures the fear and necessity of committing to music as a path. For Luiza, deepening her commitment to music alongside years in theatre was both inevitable and difficult. Braun’s production follows a similar logic. Initial ideas were often built without obvious reference points, only later incorporating rhythmic and vocal elements that hint at Brazil without reproducing it. Analogue techniques, tape, ribbon microphones and live ensemble recording bring a tactile quality that reflects the duo’s interest in process as much as outcome. Highlights include ‘Bem Querer’, built on an authentic samba street vibe with a super-catchy sing-along chorus, and ‘Vem pra Casa’ with its cosmic-tinged Brazilian boogie flavour. The album closes with ‘A Cor do Meu Sonho’, a quiet act of insistence. A refusal to shrink in unfamiliar environments, and a belief in the strength of difference. It is less a conclusion than a continuation, leaving the central question open. “I started to understand that I can belong to many places at once”, Luiza reflects. “And that can be something to embrace”. Lyrics from the song ‘Raiz’ translate in English to “I value a burning sun and the cold in the air. Constant change is my companion”. With Curió Curió, that idea is lived through sound, story and collaboration. A debut that feels both searching and assured, grounded in heritage yet shaped by distance.